When the baby teeth of Sirinart Saiprasart's twin daughters Fah and Talay were growing in, their cheeks turned red like tomatoes. This inspired Sirinart to draw the characters Tomato Girls, which depicts two round characters with rosy cheeks, red bodies and short green hair.
As an artist, Sirinart, better known as Siri, had the opportunity to showcase her collection of Tomato Girls at the Isan Creative Festival organised by Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) Khon Kaen. The "Tomato Girls Solo Exhibition", which was held at her café 10ml, caught the eye of the owner of Trendy Gallery who decided to purchase almost all the paintings in the collection.
"I created nine paintings without setting any price because the collection was exhibited in Khon Kaen. The exhibition was for people who visited the café, so I didn't expect anything. My paintings were created with passion and any positive feedback was considered a reward for me. When the owner of Trendy Gallery expressed interest in Tomato Girls, I was surprised and thrilled. After that, he asked me to hold an exhibition in Bangkok," Sirinart said.
Sirinart Saiprasart at 'When Our Love Song Begins'. Apichart Jinakul
Held at Iconsiam, the paintings at the exhibition "I Tomato You" were created with vivid colours and the name of the characters, Tomato Girls, were changed to Tomato Twins.
"'I Tomato You' is different from 'Tomato Girls Solo Exhibition' as I aimed to create characters that were unisex. The characters can remind visitors of loved ones, siblings or other relationships. The Tomato Twins can also represent the LGBTI community and do not refer to my twin daughters. They can appear in any form and colour, but their faces are expressionless. Their unemotional faces are a key aspect of their appeal. Though they appear emotionless, viewers find them humorous," explained Sirinart.
Following the success of "I Tomato You", Sirinart is currently holding another exhibition "When Our Love Song Begins", featuring the Tomato Twin characters. She said that "When Our Love Song Begins" reflects both her beginnings as an artist and her current collaboration with an art gallery.
"My inspiration was triggered by seeing my twins dancing joyfully along with music. That reminded me of dancing with my husband at a swing dance event when we were dating. Although we did not dance perfectly and may even have stepped on each other's toes, we still wanted to dance together until the end of the song. The paintings depict several kinds of relationships including mothers and sons/daughters, siblings and couples. Some relationships are symbolised by butterflies, flowers, birds or worms."
Tomato Field Forever. Suwitcha Chaiyong
Since the exhibition involves music, she invited the duo Plastic Plastic, whose music she enjoys listening to while painting, to compose a soundtrack for her first animation. The duo decided to compose three songs, Rolling Tomato, Wondering and Memories.
Beautiful Song is an intriguing painting of a woman wearing headphones adorned with the faces of the twins. Sirinart explained that the idea behind Beautiful Song was inspired by feelings that the voices of her twins were the most musical sound for her.
"When the twins started to coo, the sound was so beautiful. If their cooing sounds were songs, they would be the most beautiful songs. Additionally, when they started saying mom, it was another beautiful song for me," explained Sirinart.
The largest painting, Tomato Field Forever, depicts the Tomato Twins holding hands dancing in a tomato field. The painting title was inspired by the song Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles.
"John Lennon wrote the song Strawberry Fields Forever, which tells a story of his childhood memory since it was his most memorable and happy moment. This painting represents everyone's childhood memory," she said.
The Tomato Twins characters.
There are four paintings featuring the Tomato Twins playing instruments together. Sirinart explained that this set was inspired by her close relationship with her sister Munin Saiprasart, who is also an artist.
"As sisters, we've done many things together. When we were young, we slept in the same room and we worked together at her publication company. We can now babysit each other's children," she said.
Sirinart had a long journey before she became a painter. She earned a bachelor's from the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences at Khon Kaen University and worked as a medical technologist in Khon Kaen for many years.
Although she had a passion for art, she had to pursue a more secure career as her father suggested. When her family lost their youngest brother in an accident, Sirinart decided to support her family by taking on a job as a medical equipment sales representative. This allowed her to earn a higher income and have more time to be with her parents.
While working as a sales representative, since Sirinart had more free time, Munin encouraged her to post drawings and paintings on Facebook. She enjoyed drawing her everyday life and shared them on her page, facebook.com/SIRI.drawing. Followers recognised her cute drawings with a positive attitude and humorous stories. Her page went viral when she drew about her solo travel experience in Taiwan.
Four paintings inspired by Sirinart's relationship with her sister Munin.
"I drew my experiences when I caught flu there. A woman in Taiwan saw my post and sent me a message via Facebook inviting me to revisit Taiwan after I recovered. I also had an opportunity to exhibit my paintings for the first time at a café owned by a friend of the woman who invited me," she said.
Sirinart eventually quit working as a sales representative when Munin established a publishing house called 10mm. She decided to work with her sister and published her first book, A Little Something, which is a travel journal that narrates through letters between a man and a woman.
Sirinart later opened a café named 10ml in Bangkok with her husband. The café offered its space to hold art exhibitions without charge. Sirinart explained that her experiences in Taiwan taught her the importance of opportunity, and she wanted to provide a platform for other artists to showcase their work. Many artists, including Munin, had their debut exhibition at 10ml. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sirinart decided to close down the café in Bangkok and relocated to the garden of her house in Khon Kaen.
Sirinart has been known for her cute portrait drawings and fun storytelling, but she currently wants to focus on her characters Tomato Twins. The artist revealed that the Tomato Twin universe will expand with more characters. Two new characters, which viewers can see at "When Our Love Song Begins", are cats inspired by her late pets.
"I wasn't an artist when I started my page," Siri admitted. "I drew and created content that was easily accessible to people. However, I need to grow. I worry if my followers will stay with me if the content changes, but I have to move forward and do what feels right for me at this moment."
Fortunately, some followers have messaged her with comforting words, assuring her that they'll continue to support her regardless of her creative direction.
"I've been running my page for 11 years," Siri said. "Some followers have messaged me saying they've been with me since I was single, dating, married and now with children. They've grown up with me and have included me in every moment of their lives. It truly impresses me that followers have stayed with me after so many years."
"When Our Love Song Begins" is at Trendy Gallery, 2nd floor, River City Bangkok, until March 24. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/RiverCityBangkok.
